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Emphetic Calendar
The Emphetic Calendar, also the Emperion System '''or '''Tericate Calendar, is a near universal method of organizing the passage of time in days and years, first put into practice by the Spirese Empire circa 1 E. Since the Flood Wars, despite the resulting destruction of its creators, the calendar has slowly been rediscovered and adopted by nearly all civilized people from Terica and Tonia, across to Till and Austacia, and even the most distant expansion lands of the nations found therein. Etymology In Eston, the term "Emphetic" is used to describe the system, and is derived from the Spirese word "Emfithiie", which in turn is translated as "Emperion" on most occasions. However, the word "Emphetic" traces its roots instead to High Eston rather than common Eston, and particularly to the phrase "Emephet", which is also defined as "Emperion". Because the Calendar first gained ground in the Eston Kingdom during the early period of High Eston-speaking nobility, and as well since only the nobility had any access to knowledge of such luxuries as calendars, the term "Emphetic" became accepted as the proper term. Recently, certain reform movements have supported the idea of replacing the traditional designation for the calendar with the more Eston-like word "Emperion". However, "Emphetic" remains far more common among the scholarly class. Only in the Roxem Union is the alternative expression more popular than the original. Occasionally the name "Tericate Calendar" is used to describe the system. This usage evolved from the false idea that intellectuals within the Empire of Turuc were responsible for the development of the calendar, due to the Turuci dominance over certain regions of the world during the calendar's repopularization. In certain languages, such as Thalsic, Escandrian, and Totrian, an equivalent of "Tericate Calendar" is used with no other synonymous term. System Years The Emphetic Calendar categorizes its 448-day years relative to the proclaimed existence of the Spirese Empire, the era known as "Emfithiie" by chroniclers of the time. "Emfithiie" begins with the suitably titled "Declaration of the first Emfithiie", and official edict decreed by the Spirese Emperor Ustinay Maltelley. In the minds of the ancient Spirese, "Emfithiie" would last until Spira was conquered. All time before Emperor Maltelley's Declaration would count down toward its delivery, and be labelled "Atvanti Emfithiie Intllay", or "Before Emperion". This time would have no clear start date, as attempting to visualize the beginning of time was a Spirese taboo. Instead, any number of years before the Emfithiie could be used, with ancient times (to the Spirese) sometimes recorded to have occurred "Nonimmaciani Atvanti Emfithiie Intllay ", or, "an impossible number (of years) before Emfithiie." In Eston, years of this section would be marked with the ending "BE" following their number. The next era was, of course, Emperion. Emperion, or Emfithiie, lasted 543 years, and spans the lifetime of the Spirese Empire from Maltelley's Declaration until the Raze of Spira during the Flood Wars. Time here begins with 1 Emperion, and counts upwards toward the then-unforeseeable future. The last year in this category is 543 Emperion. These years, in Eston, are marked with an "E" following their number. The final segment is "Atvanti Emfithiie Ecsirra", or "After Emfithiie", beginning in the aftermath of the Raze of Spira, and continuing to the present. Time here counts upward as well, and has remained in count for close to 2000 years. These years are marked with an "AE" at their end, in Eston. Due to the antiquity of the system, no further eras are planned to be added to the calendar under any circumstances. Months One month is considered to have passed with each return of the moon to its starting place in the night sky, just below the Slow Star. This occurs on a predictable 32-day cycle, independent from the moon's many forms and colors. The most typical calendarical regimens feature 14 months for every year. In Eston, these are traditionally called Priverse, Plorus, Ventons, Forus, Sediny, Ripery, Vurwind, Igrus, Brittews, Choldus, Sewlus, Bissery, Dorise, and Taginus, respectively, and are inherited from a combination of Spirese, High Eston and Hestic predecessors, as well as some other foreign and domestic contributions. It should be noted that groups of months were once customarily designated "seasons", a greater unit of measurement than months, but have since fallen out of favor in all but rural society.